My Testimony

Growing up, my parents didn't attend church. I remember visiting church for my first time when I was eight for an Easter service with my dad and his close friend. I loved it: the music, the teachings, the people. It was a world I hadn't experienced before, but I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.

As I got a little bit older, I began to attend church (I still remember the name: Freemont Freewill Baptist Church) on Wednesday nights while my parents went bowling. We watched Veggie Tales movies, played games, and talked about the bible. At the time, I didn't realize I was learning about God, I just thought it was a place where I could feel comfortable and nobody would judge me.

Sometime during my seventh grade year, I began to attend Wednesday night church with a couple of my close friends (I hung out with the "Christians" because they were a lot like me.) The major thing that separated me from my friends was that they had a personal relationship with God, and frankly, I didn't. I was a good kid, but nothing more.

Attending church on Wednesdays changed my life forever. We dove into the bible headfirst and I knew I was missing out pretty quickly. Then, at the age of 13, in February of my 7th grade year, I accepted Christ in my room before going to bed one evening. It was the best feeling... I came to school the next day and told Eryn, Shay, Ashley, Krystan, Stefany, and Logan that I had been saved. Of course they were so proud of me, but I didn't deserve that, they deserved all the credit because without them, I may have never accepted Christ.

However, I still didn't attend church on Sundays. When we turned 16, Eryn and I made a decision that we would start going to church when we received our licenses. And we did. I began going to Sunrise Community Church because Stephen, Krystan, and Stefany went there, so I knew I would feel at home. Plus, the Graingers were in charge of the church (Stephen's family), and if you don't know them, this is one of the nicest families that have walked on the face of this planet.

I attended Sunrise for a year, before Ashlea invited me to try out her church, Springhill Baptist Church. I decided to try it out, and fell in love with everything. However, I continued to attend Sunrise because I knew telling the Graingers I found another church would probably tear me to pieces.

After months of prayer, I realized God was telling me to attend Springhill, because it had a developed youth program. As a baby Christian, I needed all the growth I could get. So I wrote a letter to LeAnn and Brad, explaining how wonderful they had treated me at Sunrise, because I was too torn apart to tell them in person. I am pretty sure the two paragraph letter took me several hours to write. To this day, that is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The Graingers were completely understanding and wished me great joy and growth at my new church. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from such a stand up family.

The move to Springhill was amazing for my Christian walk. I began to start a daily quiet time, something I had no idea existed before, and I volunteered to help around the community with others my age. Under the supervision of Brian, the youth pastor, my relationship with God grew quicker than I imagined. Brian is also one of the best people I have ever come in contact with. He has changed my life in more ways than any one single person I know. Plus, I began my first relationship with another Christian, which helped make my senior year of high school the best year of my life.

I then moved to Des Moines for college and went through the process of finding a church all over again. After attending a couple of churches, I fell in love with Capitol City Baptist Church. I know this is where God wants me, and if it is in His will, I hope to stay here and raise my family within this church.

Through my journey, my dad has attended many church services, but only because he wanted to visit his daughters. Otherwise, he doesn't believe in the teachings or principles, which is hard for me. My mom, on the other hand, fully supports my Christian life, but wants nothing to do with it. She thinks of Christianity as "a sign of weakness, because you rely on God to control your life." This is hard for me to deal with because my mom is the least accepting person I know. It took me several hours to acquire the courage to invite her to Sunday morning church one Saturday evening, to be turned down quickly.

Through prayer, the only answer I have come up with is that God has put Eryn and me in my parents's lives to receive everlasting salvation from Jesus Christ. My dad is close, but not quite there. And my mom, well, that's where my work is cut out for me. But I know all things are possible with God, so with His help, I plan to see both of my parents alongside me in Heaven one day.